A method of lithography patterning includes forming a first resist pattern on a substrate, the first resist pattern including a plurality of openings therein on the substrate; forming a second resist pattern on the substrate and within the plurality of openings of the first resist pattern, the second resist pattern including at least one opening therein on the substrate; and removing the first resist pattern to uncover the substrate underlying the first resist pattern.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method comprising: forming a material layer on a substrate; forming a first resist pattern on the material layer, the first resist pattern including at least one opening; forming a second resist layer on the material layer within the at least one opening, wherein forming the second resist layer on the material layer within the at least one opening includes transferring a pattern from a mask onto the second resist layer; removing a portion of the second resist layer to form a first opening in the second resist layer that uncovers the material layer underlying the second resist layer; and removing a portion of the first resist pattern to form a second opening in the second resist layer that uncovers the material layer underlying the first resist layer.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising etching the material layer through at least one of the first and second openings of the second resist layer.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising exposing the second resist layer to define a plurality of unexposed second resist layer features on the material layer.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein removing the portion of the first resist pattern to form a second opening includes applying a developing solution to remove the unexposed second resist layer features and to remove the portion of the first resist pattern.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first resist pattern comprises a positive tone resist material and the second resist layer comprises a negative tone resist material.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material layer is formed of a material selected from the group consisting of a dielectric material and a conductive material.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the portion of the first resist pattern to form the second opening in the second resist layer includes applying a solvent in which the second resist layer is insoluble.
8. A method comprising: forming a first resist pattern having an upper surface on a substrate, the first resist pattern including a plurality of openings therein on the substrate; forming a second resist pattern having an upper surface on the substrate and within the plurality of openings of the first resist pattern such that the upper surface of the second resist pattern is lower than the upper surface of the first resist pattern, the second resist pattern including a first opening therein on the substrate; and removing the first resist pattern to uncover the substrate underlying the first resist pattern to form a second opening in the second resist pattern such that the second resist pattern includes the first and second openings that each uncover the substrate underlying the first resist pattern.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first resist pattern comprises a positive tone resist material and the second resist pattern comprises a negative tone resist material.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first resist pattern has an etch rate higher than that of the second resist pattern in an etching process.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the removing of the first resist pattern comprises applying an etching process to selectively remove the first resist pattern relative to the second resist pattern.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising etching the substrate within the first and second openings of the second resist pattern after the removing of the first resist pattern.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein forming the first resist pattern includes using a first mask in forming the first resist pattern, and wherein forming the second resist pattern includes using a second mask in forming the second resist pattern, the first mask being different than the second mask.
14. A method comprising: forming a first resist pattern on a substrate; forming a second resist layer on the substrate layer within at least one opening defined by the first resist pattern, wherein forming the second resist layer on the substrate layer within the at least one opening defined by the first resist pattern includes transferring a pattern from a mask onto the second resist layer; removing a portion of the second resist layer to form a first opening in the second resist layer that uncovers the substrate underlying the second resist layer; removing a portion of the first resist pattern to form a second opening in the second resist layer that uncovers the substrate underlying the first resist layer.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the second resist layer on the substrate includes covering a portion of an upper surface of the first resist pattern.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the second resist layer on the substrate includes forming the second resist layer on the substrate without covering an upper surface of the first resist pattern.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein removing the portion of the second resist layer and removing the portion of the first resist pattern occur during the same development process.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the substrate includes a material layer formed thereon, and wherein forming the first resist pattern on the substrate includes forming the first resist pattern on the material layer.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the material layer is one of a dielectric material layer and a conductive material layer.
20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising etching the substrate through the first and second openings of the second resist layer.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
October 17, 2011
May 28, 2013
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